Chapter Fourteen

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Nash read through the report he’d just gotten while he kept an eye on Caroline. Not that she was going anywhere. She was exactly where she’d been for the past half hour since they’d gotten out of the hot tub.

Asleep on the sofa.

He’d been worried that sex might be too much for her, that she could have regrets and doubts, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. She’d dressed, kissed him some more, and snuggled up on the sofa while waiting for any updates. Before the first update had come through, she’d been sound asleep, and Nash was hoping she’d stay that way for a while.

Now, he was the one wide awake and dealing with the doubts. No regrets though about having sex with Caroline. Being with her had seemed, well, a necessity rather than for mere pleasure. The pleasure had certainly been there though, and it hadn’t sated his need for her. Just the opposite. He wanted her all over again.

That led him to the big question that kept flashing in his mind.

What was next for them?

Or was there even a next?

One-time sex didn’t mean there had to be a next. But he knew there would be…something. Dates, maybe? A relationship? More?

It troubled him that he wanted more. That she might not need the same. If so, then he couldn’t press for anything other than what she could give him. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt like hell if she walked away.

But he couldn’t blame her if she did.

It was one thing to say he didn’t remind her of Bodie, of the attack. It was an entirely different thing to try to cope with on a daily basis.

With that dismal possibility joining the flashing question in his head, he forced his attention back on the two updates he’d gotten. The first was from Slade, and the second was from Ruby.

Slade had joined the team of county cops, the medical examiner, and two CSIs who were finally on their way to that clearing where they’d seen the body. Finally, because it’d taken some time for the team to be assembled. Slade expected to be able to give him more info once they’d reached the site on foot.

Nash moved onto Ruby’s report and immediately frowned when he read the first line. Jordana was still missing, and Ruby was concerned as to what the woman would do next. He figured that concern was warranted. If Jordana had indeed killed Bodie, then she might be on the run to escape arrest. Might even already be out of the country.

But Jordana could also have something else in mind.

Like coming after Caroline.

Since that possibility had already occurred to Nash, it was the reason he had Slade’s security system on full operation. Because it might not just be Jordana they had to be concerned about but also Eddie. Or even someone else that Jordana had hired to help her.

Also, according to Ruby’s report, neither Eddie nor Leland was still at the police station. Eddie because his lawyer had managed to reschedule the remainder of the interview and Leland because there’d been no grounds to hold him after he’d given his statement. That meant Eddie could be out to settle an old score for Bodie. No better way to do that than to try to kill Caroline.

At least Nash didn’t think they had to be concerned about Leland. No old scores for him to settle.

However, Nash immediately rethought that.

Leland wouldn’t try to deal with Bodie’s unfinished business with Caroline, but the man might be willing to go to any lengths to protect his daughter. That could include silencing anyone who could implicate her in Bodie’s death.

Including Caroline and him.

After all, they had seen her reaction when she’d driven up to his gate, and if Jordana went running to Daddy to whine about witnesses who might be able to point the finger at her, then Nash could see Leland going into the fixer mode.

So, Leland was staying on the watch list.

His phone vibrated a split-second before something else flashed on the desk monitor, and Nash saw the alert.

Incoming drone feed.

Normally, Spock or Oz would have verbally alerted him to something like that, but he’d put both on silent mode so it wouldn’t wake Caroline.

Nash watched the footage as the drone picked up the movement of four men and two women who were snaking their way through a trail in the woods. Slade and two uniformed county cops were in the lead, with the two CSIs behind them. Nash figured the other man was the medical examiner.

There were enough thick clusters of trees that the drone lost sight of them for several moments before they reappeared again. Judging from the coordinates the drone showed, they’d soon be in the clearing. And Slade would have to deal with seeing Bodie’s body.

Nash didn’t think Slade would experience any kind of grief or sadness over the loss. Just the opposite. Still, it would be a sucker punch to see their brother lying on the ground.

Behind him, he heard Caroline stir, and he hoped she’d go back to sleep. Because it would be a sucker punch for her, too, to see her now-dead attacker. But no such luck. He turned when Caroline sat up and yawned.

“I crashed,” she muttered, stretching.

She looked at him. Smiled. But the smile didn’t last when she spotted what was on the screen.

“Did anything happen while I was out?” she blurted, practically springing off the sofa and hurrying toward him. She kept her attention pinned to the screen.

“No sign of Jordana, and that’s about it,” he summarized. “Slade had to wait for the other responders and the ME to arrive before they could go out to the body, so that’s why there was a delay.”

She pulled over a chair, positioning it right next to his, and she leaned over, giving him a quick, almost absent kiss. He looked at her, causing her gaze to shift from the screen to him. She smiled again. Then, she kissed him for real.

Oh, that felt damn good having her mouth on his, and he hated that the timing sucked for a round two. Later, maybe, especially since they might have to stay here for a while until both his and her places had been processed.

His phone vibrated again, and a text from Slade popped up on the bottom of the drone feed. “Arrived in the clearing,” Caroline read aloud.

That got their attention back on the screen, and they had the aerial view of the team walking toward the body. Slowly. All of them, even the ME, were checking the ground to make sure they didn’t step on anything that might be evidence. That would especially be needed if it turned out that this wasn’t death by suicide.

Which Nash was certain it wasn’t.

He was betting this was murder.

One of the cops pointed to something and then pulled a small yellow flag from his pocket to mark the spot. According to the next text that Slade sent, it was several shoeprints in some mud.

The drone dropped down, going closer to the body as Slade and the cops approached. Slade stayed back a little, recording the scene on his phone. Probably since it would give him a different view than the drone.

A cop went to one side of the body, crouching down to look at Bodie’s face. The second went to the other, his attention focused on the neck wound. And while Nash couldn’t hear what they weren’t saying, he did see something that sent a spike of alarm through him.

One of the cops stood abruptly and appeared to be cursing.

Slade and the other cop moved in, going to the side where they could see Bodie’s face. That spike of alarm got even harder and bigger when Slade’s expression turned to ice, and he pressed something on his phone.

Moments later Nash’s phone buzzed not with a text but rather a call from Slade.

Hell.

Something was definitely wrong.

“What happened?” Nash couldn’t ask fast enough.

Slade wasn’t so quick to answer, though, and Nash watched him draw in a long breath. “It’s not Bodie.”

Nash shook his head.

Caroline made a soft gasping sound.

“But we saw him on the feed,” Caroline insisted. “It has to be him. He has to be dead.”

“It’s not him,” Slade said, his voice as strained as his expression. “I don’t know who the hell he is, but he’s wearing a mask of sorts.” He paused, seemed to struggle with what he added next. “It’s a picture of Bodie taped to the dead man’s face.”